Earlier today I tweeted about how some vExperts have access to vCloud Air to test and blog about the offering.
ATTN #vExpert people. Did you know there is vExpert access to vCHS? Work with @jtroyer @JennyAtVMware and I to find out more.
— Colotti+ (@ccolotti) January 26, 2014
This is not actually a new thing, it’s been in place since before vCloud Air went generally available. However, that being said the same people have had access to it for some time since it went GA. The intent of my tweet was not to completely open the flood gates for interest….although it did. The fact of the matter is there is a vCloud Air tenant reserved for vExperts to experiment and blog about the offering using Virtual Private Cloud, (VPC). The challenge is that we need to put a system in place to rotate out the current people to allow access for new people.Here is something I want to propose and take back to some other folks internally about using this as a program. This is just my thoughts, but comment as you see fit and socialize this for more ideas.
- Run program Quarterly, you get access for one quarter
- Limit the number of vExperts per quarter, number TBD
- Access request form to be filled out in prior quarter
- Access requests reviewed by the VMware team
- Previous people who had access cannot re-request for at least 6 months to give others a chance
- You must commit to use the system and write about your experiences
- Users that do not use the system within the first month will be swapped out
- Previous users workloads will be deleted
- All workloads are considered temporary and transient
This is just some ideas I had to try to put something “official” in place for all the vExperts out there that want to get hands on with vCloud Air. So, what do you think? What else can we do to control the access and the availability to people on a fair, round robin basis? My thought is that we come up with the system now and we can possibly try to get new people going the start of Q2 2014. Again, this is just an IDEA I am willing to try to facilitate, NOT a guarantee.
Please start a discussion below so others can see the opinions instead of just on twitter.
UPDATED 1/27/13: Many folks that also work for partners have reached out to me and mentioned that the partner they work for also has access. If you work for a partner, many of them have fired up paid Virtual Private Clouds, and in some cases full Dedicated Clouds for more permanent uses. I’d encourage those that work for partners to look at that route so you are not rotated out of the transient space. I may not have time to really dig into this until after PEX but I am also roping in Jeremiah Dooley to help herd the cats. Let’s walk before we run and make sure we put a good system in place that uses the space we have. Currently the people who have access have either never used it, or are done using it, so let’s work together for a good plan.